Trip Report - John Timu

Scott Eklund

01/26/2010

Long Beach Jordan's John Timu was a surprise commitment last summer, coming out of nowhere. Since then, he's remained out of sight resurfacing for his senior season of football, but blew out his knee and ended his high school football career on the shelf. Two weeks ago, the talented athlete took his visit to Washington and said it was everything he thought it would be...

"The visit went really good," Timu told Dawgman.com Tuesday night. "Andru Pulu was my host and because he's from up there, he sorta talked to me about what it was like to live up there and be in the city and stuff.

"It was a lot of fun and I had some great talks with the coaches and the rest of the players, so it really felt like home for me."

"I never thought about not being a Washington Husky," Timu said. "They were the school for me. The coaches there are great and Washington is an up-and-coming program."

Timu, who said he currently measures in at 6-2, 205 pounds, was a playmaker on offense for Jordan as a junior, but Washington and pretty much every school recruiting him likes him at safety.

"I don't really care, but I prefer defense, definitely," Timu said. "The hitting is fun and just making plays and firing up the crowd and my teammates, that's the best part."

About a month ago, Timu get the operation on his knee and he's currently going through rehab, trying to strengthen the joint while not pushing too hard.

"The (Washington) coaches told me not to push too hard and to be patient," Timu said. "It's really hard because you're used to being healthy and doing things, but I'm just taking it a day at a time and making sure I get things done."

Because of his injury status, Timu said recruiting coordinator Johnny Nansen and head coach Steve Sarkisian, on their in-home last month, spent time going through the process of greyshirting and assured him there is a spot waiting for him next January.

"It's frustrating because I'd like to be there with the other recruits when they show up, but I can't," Timu said. "I'm going to work hard and get things done so that when I get there I'll be ready to go."

We're hoping to get pictures from Timu when he signs his letter-of-intent next Wednesday and we'll check back in with him throughout the rest of the year as he prepares to head north to Montlake in early 2011.